India News May 2011 - Final Final Final

May, 2011 INDEX
India-Mexico Defence Interaction Karnataka Invites Mexican Investment Renowned Indian Sociologist Speaks on Violence RSB Group Expands Its Global Footprint To Mexico Tornel Profit-making Under Indias JK Group Now An Indian Tequila India Growth Story - A Talk India at Feria de las Culturas Amigas Indian Cultural Head Visits Mexico Mexico Celebrates Indian Culture, Cinema India PM Asks Pak to 'Control Monster of Terror' Mumbai Carnage Terrorist Testifies, Confesses Pakistan's India Obsession a Mistake: Obama India, US Vow Closer Security Partnership Osama Killing Deepens Distrust of Pakistan Kashmiri Militants Seeking to Rejoin Mainstream The insanity clause India, Africa Hold Second Summit India UNSC Bid Gathers Steam India Welcomes Palestine Reconciliation UN Seeks Indian Expertise For Arab Elections China Thanks India For Foiling Pirate Attack India Soon to be the Fastest Growing Economy India Among Most Entrepreneur-Friendly India Targets Exports of $500 b in 2013-14 10,000 km New Highways Planned For the Year India Set to Bridge Global Manpower Shortages Refining Capacity To See Quantum Jump India BioTech To Be $10 b Industry by 2015 Strong Spurt In Tech Demand Foreseen India Tests First 600-MW Turbo Generator Indias First Fast Breeder Nuclear Reactor India To Launch French Satellite India To Add 67,000 MW Solar Power By 2022 India Medical Tourism To Boom India Joins Global Cruise Line Club 'It Was Love At First Sight With India' They said It... Trade Enquiries from India
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India News, May, 2011
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India-Mexico Defence Interaction An 18-member senior level delegation from the National Defence College (NDC), led by its Commandant Air Marshal P K Roy, visited (Chile and) Mexico from May 21-28, as part of its Foreign Study Tour, to acquaint themselves with first-hand knowledge of the capability and achievements of Mexico with regard to socio-political, economic, foreign policy and security issues. The delegation comprised seven officers from the Indian Army, four from the Indian Air Force, one from the Indian Navy, three from Indias premier civil services, and four foreign officersfrom Bangladesh, Bhutan, South Africa, and Kyrgyzstan. Earlier, similar NDC delegations had visited Mexico in 2003 and 2008. The delegation visited Cancun and Chichn Itz, besides Mexico City. They were received at the Mexican Colegio de Defensa Nacional by its Commandant, Gral. Bgda.DEM. Ernesto Aguilera Casados, and his staff officers, where the Colegio gave them a presentation on Mexicos National Defence Policy and its Strategic Planning. The delegation also had a meeting with Almirante C.G.DEM. Jos Santiago Valds lvarez, Chief of Staff, in the Ministry of Navy, followed by a visit to Naval Superior Studies Centre (CESNAV), where they were welcomed by its Commandant, Almirante C.G. Dem. Carlos Federico Quinto Quillen, and his staff officers, before a presentation on Social Reality and Security Reality in our Country. The delegation also interacted with senior officials in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy, and with the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI). In all the interactions, Mexican counterparts extended generous hospitality, a warm welcome, and organised several diversified meetings and social events with both civil and military officials, so that the delegation members left Mexico full of glowing memories of Mexico. Amb.Jain hosted a Reception for the delegation, with representatives of the Mexican government, both military and civil, Indian community, media, and business community also joining. In his welcome remarks, he spoke about the NDC, and about India-Mexico bilateral cooperation growing by leaps and bounds in particular in recent years, in trade, investment flows, science and technology, and a host of other areas, adding that the two countries have also initiated small but significant measures in enhancing bilateral relations and cooperation in the area of defence. Karnataka Invites Mexican Investment Industries Minister of Karnataka, Murugesh R Nirani, led a delegation from Karnataka comprising senior officers to Mexico from May 8-10. The delegation, in association with the Indian Embassy and IndiaMexico Business Chamber, organized, at Hotel Presidente Intercontinental in Mexico City on May 10, an investment promotion Road Show, as part of a preparatory series to organizing a Global Investors Meeting in June 2012 at Bangalore. The event was attended by representatives from Mexican companies, business chambers, and the media. In his opening remarks, welcoming the participants, Amb.Dinesh K Jain gave an overview of the close, cordial and friendly relations between India and Mexico, their numerous similarities, and highlighted their trade and economic linkages. Over the years their bilateral trade has grown rapidly to almost $3 billion in 2010. He enumerated the opportunities in particular in the sectors of agri & food processing, mining, automobiles and auto parts, textiles & garments, and pharmaceuticals, and also provided a birds view of Karnataka, highlighting its unparalleled contribution to the advances in science & technology, information technology, aerospace, telecommunications, engineering, pharmaceuticals, medical sciences, food processing, and in advanced education, including in management and law. Minister Nirani apprised the audience about the progress made by Karnataka and the stupendous success of the Global Investors Meet 2010 attracting investment of US$87 b through 389 MOUs. An audio-visual presentation further provided glimpses of investment opportunities in Karnataka. Karnataka is Indias eighth largest state in area and ninth in population, with an illustrious history of successfully introducing industrial and technological initiatives. Its capital city Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) is widely recognised for technological innovations and is aptly called the Silicon Valley of India. Renowned Indian Sociologist Speaks on Violence Dr.Ashish Nandy, the eminent Indian Sociologist and Political Psychologist, listed as one of the top 100 public intellectuals of the world by Foreign Policy, published by the Carnegie Endowment for
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International Peace, on a visit to Mexico, delivered a public lecture on Violence in our Times, and held a public debate with Prof.Claudio Lomnitz of Columbia University and others on the theme, Development, Culture and Visions of a Desirable Future, both at COLMEX. Nandy also led a brain-storming session with about 30 Mexican intellectuals and members of NGOs and civil rights organizations on Violence, Peace and Justice at Cuernavaca. Besides, he had an extended interactive session with two groups of students from the Centre for African and Asian Studies and the Centre for International Relations in COLMEX. He also delivered a talk at UNAM (Faculty of Philosophy and Literature) on The Idea of Progress. All these presentations were much appreciated by the enthusiastic groups of students, faculty and other intellectuals, of not only COLMEX but also other institutions of higher learning in Mexico like UNAM, UTAM etc. RSB Group Expands Its Global Footprint To Mexico RSB Transmissions, the fast growing Indian engineering and technology enterprise, from the state of Odisha, with 12 state-of-the-art manufacturing plants spread over seven locations in India and one each in the USA and Belgium, has expanded its global footprint to Mexico with its 13th Plant at Silao, Guanajuato state of Mexico. RSB designs and manufactures systems aggregates used by automotive, construction and farm equipment sectors. The new plant was inaugurated recently by the Governor, Juan Manuel Olivia Ramirez. He felicitated Mr R K Behera, RSB Group Chairman, and complimented the Group for choosing Guanajuato for the investment and thus demonstrating its faith in the talent and commitment of the people of Guanajuato. Speaking on the occasion, Behera highlighted that Mexico provides great opportunities and potential, possessing a vibrant automotive industry, with annual production of vehicles in excess of 2 m. He declared that starting modestly they would invest about US$50-60 m in Mexico in a span of three years and grow the top line to $80100 m in a period of 4 years. RSB is a leading global manufacturer of propeller shafts & components, an array of axles including front axles, trailer, tractor and dummy axles, fully finished gears and shafts and transmission components like differential cases, yokes and carriers. In the construction equipment segment, it is a leading manufacturer of heavy fabrications and aggregates like frames, arms, booms and buckets. The company expects to maintain its momentum and grow at a CAGR of about 30-35% for the next few years. Mr.Nishant Behera, Director, RSB Transmissions de Mexico, who conceived and planned the Mexico project, added that the domestic customers in Mexico will be American Axle, Eaton, Magna, Getrag, General Motors and Chrysler, who are already RSBs customers in the US. It also intends to export to the parents of the above companies in the US and Canada. There are also plans to use the Mexican facility to export to Fiat in Brazil and Argentina, which are already customers of RSB India. Tornel Profit-making Under Indias JK Group Speaking to the media, Dr.Raghupati Singhania, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Indias major engineering group JK Tyre & Industries Ltd., which is part of the US$2.5 billion JK Organisation, and which took over Mexicos Tornel tyre company in 2008, said that Tornel has been profitable from the first year. They are now considering capacity expansion at the facility in Mexico. The details of the investment required are being worked out. The production, across our plants in Mexico and India, rose by up to 940 tonnes a day. Today JK Groups overseas presence is worth almost US$180 m. Products valued at around $101 m are exported from India, while the rest are sourced from Tornel and their other partners in China, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. JK Tyres is the market leader in truck and bus radial tyres in India with sales of over 3 m units. It is seeking to expand its overseas presence by 15-20% every year. Currently the company has eight plants 5 in India and 3 in Mexico (Tornel). Now An Indian Tequila Feni, Goas own home-bred liquor, is in for some competition in its own backyard. A tequila, brewed in Andhra Pradesh and bottled and packaged in Goa, could soon spar with this states best known spirit. Indias first indigenously-made tequila is marketed under the brand Desmondji, which was launched recently and is on display at the four-day Konkan fruit festival dedicated to the fruits of the tropical strip of land stretching from Maharashtra to Goa. Manufactured by the
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company Agave India, Desmondji is manufactured from the blue agave found on the Deccan plateau in Andhra Pradesh, similar to the agave plant found in Mexico. I was doing some research on tequila and agave when I came across a photograph of the blue agave plant in Andhra Pradesh. The latitudinal lines in Mexico where the plant grows passes over a certain region in Andhra Pradesh, where I first set out to hunt down the agave, said Desmond Nazareth, from whose name the tequila draws its name. He is the director of Agave India, which is the holding company for the brand Desmondji. He said naming the agave brew and other range of alcoholic cocktail blends Desmondji was his obeisance to an ancient custom, where the liquor used to be named after the person who brewed it. Tequila, however, being a proprietary word associated with Mexico and its exclusive regional processes, Desmond prefers to call his brew agave to avoid proprietary conflict. Marketed under a broader brand Agave India, the production facilities designed for zero discharge, the project will also engender rural employment and wasteland cultivation, according to the former techie, who is an IIT-Madras alumnus. Agave India has a manufacturing plant in Chittoor in Andhra, while the tequila and other brews are bottled and packaged in a facility located in Goa. India Growth Story - A Talk Prof.Joseph Philip, President, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (XIME), Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), a leading business school of India, delivered a lecture on India Growth Story at Instituto Tecnolgico Autnomo de Mxico (ITAM) on May 24, 2011. XIME and ITAM have concluded an MOU for students and faculty exchange, under which a batch of 24 postgraduate students of Business Management studies from ITAM recently visited Bangalore, Mysore, Mumbai, Agra and New Delhi, for two weeks in March-April 2011. Philips also awarded the students Certifications of Participation under their Global Knowledge Services programme. Prof.S.N.Nageswara Rao, Visiting Professor from Sir Theagaraya College, Chennai, India, delivered the first Octavio Paz Chair public lecture on May 16. The Octavio Paz Chair for Indian Studies was instituted under an MOU between ICCR and El Colegio de Mxico (COLMEX) last year, and Rao is its first incumbent. Rao spoke on Indian Diaspora: a Global Perspective, outlining that Indian migrants streamed out essentially for trade and commerce in the early times, to the present trend driven by a steadily growing global demand for Indias renowned IT and other skills. Indian professionals are reputed to be among the best in the world. He dealt with the positive and negative aspects of this migration and the Government of Indias response thereto. His well-researched presentation was much appreciated. India at Feria de las Culturas Amigas In an expression of friendship and cultural affinity with the city and people of Mexico, India participated, yet again, along with several other countries, in Mexicos annual Fair of Friendly Cultures (Feria de las Culturas Amigas), organized on the Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City. The Indian contingent in the parade of the participating countries, which followed the Mayors inaugural address on May 14, was marked by boisterous colours, traditional costumes, and vibrant mood of the participants marching to the tune of Iqbals memorable Sare Jahan Se Achcha (More endearing than the whole world). The India pavilion, also offering tourist brochures and pamphlets, had traditional wares such as famed Indian handcrafts, garments, and other exquisite souvenirs from India, doing brisk business with Mexicanas enamoured getting beautiful and intricate henna patterns on palms at the stand. Indian Cultural Head Visits Mexico Mr.Suresh K Goel, Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), visited Mexico from May 1921. ICCR is an autonomous body with the mandate to foster and promote cultural exchanges between India and the world, aimed at thus promoting mutual understanding among peoples in the world. In Mexico Goel had meetings with senior functionaries in the Federal Government, CONACULTA, and INAH, to explore further avenues for bilateral cultural cooperation.
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Mexico Celebrates Indian Culture, Cinema The Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana (UAM) of Mexico has organised, with active collaboration and support of the Gurudev Tagore Indian Cultural Centre (GTICC), a festival of popular Indian Bollywood films, for its students, faculty and others interested, at its Teatro Casa de la Paz, from May 17-July 26. The colourful inaugural functions highlight was the enthralling Kathak dance performance by Ms.Garima Bhargava, Kathak Teacher at the GTICC, in the presence of the Indian Embassy CdA, Mr.Dinkar Asthana. GTICC has provided 12 popular Bollywood films, sub-titled in Spanish, for the event, being screened every Friday evening. Indian films are close to the values and attitudes of the Mexican society, and are therefore gaining in popularity here, besides elsewhere in Latin America. High School students of Tec de Monterrey in Mexico City organized a charity gala dinner, under the banner Bharatiya Night, at the school premises on May 6, to raise funds for a library at a school complex for exploited children and girls, near Bahraich in northern India. Mr.N.Balasubramaniam, Director, GTICC, attended the event, and also spoke on the occasion on aspects of Indias culture and traditions, followed by the screening of a short documentary film Incredible !ndia. Ms.Garima Bhargava, the Kathak Teacher at GTICC, gave a Kathak recital. Earlier, the Students Society of the International Business Centre of the Morelia campus of Tec de Monterrey, also observed an India Day. Director, GTICC, delivered a talk on sociocultural aspects of India, as also on the potential for the growth of bilateral trade and commerce, and Garima Bhargava presented a performance with Rudrashtakam and Taal Dharmar. Mr.Javier Sotomayor, Director, Cinepolis, also made a presentation on their experiences in India. The central disease of India is its deep poverty and deeper ignorance. - Mahatma Gandhi India PM Asks Pak to 'Control Monster of Terror' In his first reaction after Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley's stunning disclosures about the ISI's role in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned Pakistan to control jihadi groups that target India and underlined that it was in Islamabad's interest to control the "monster of terrorism" it has unleashed. He however also said that the dialogue process that has been resumed will continue, adding that India should "use every possible opportunity to talk to Pakistan and convince them that terror as an instrument of state policy is not simply acceptable to the civilised world". While returning from a 6-day visit to Africa, Singh used the strongest language he has ever for Pakistan's failure to shut down the terror machinery directed against India in which some elements of Pakistani state are suspected to be involved. "The more I see of what is happening in Pakistan the more I am convinced that Pakistan's leadership must now wake up, and must recognise that the terror machine they have or at least some elements in the country patronise, is not working to anybody's advantage," he said. "As Pakistan's neighbour, we have great worries about the terror machine that is still intact in Pakistan. We would like Pakistan to take much more effective action to curb the activities of those jihadi groups which particularly target a country like India." Reacting to Headley's disclosures that have nailed the Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligences (ISI) role in 26/11 attack, PM said: "This has not brought out anything new that we did not know," telling Pakistan upfront that some elements in that country patronise terror as an instrument of state policy. He also aired India's concerns over the terror attack at a naval base in Karachi that has stirred anxieties about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons. "Let me say that what happens in our neighbourhood matters a great deal." Asking Pakistan to control jihadi groups that target India, he underlined that it was "in Pakistan's own interest that they must help us in tackling the problem of terror in our region...Those jihadi groups that target India, as a destination for their terror, they must be effectively curbed and dealt with. That is an ongoing process and at every opportunity that we have, we should continue to impress on
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Pakistan." PM, who has made improving relations with Pakistan the top priority of his government, stressed that the world shared India's anxieties about terror emanating from that country. "The second thing is the global concern about terrorism. The world has seen, as never before, that the epicentre of terror is in our neighbourhood. They appreciate India's point and it should be our effort to mobilise world opinion to ensure that this terror machinery which operates in our neighbourhood in Pakistan is brought under effective control." He, however, added that despite knowing the terror machinery working against India in Pakistan, he believed that "good relations between India and all its neighbours are very desirable and indeed essential for us in South Asia to realise our development ambitions". On a two-day visit to Paris after the US operation in Abbottabad, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao spoke about Islamabad and its support to terrorists. Addressing the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), Rao said, Turning to our immediate neighbourhood, any visualisation of Indias global role must begin in our immediate neighbourhood, because situational factors in that environment affect our internal security and therefore merit our greatest attention. Rao added, Rationale of economic development in an atmosphere of peace for all of South Asia remains our steadfast goal. Coming down strong on Pakistan New Delhi iterated that domestic measures alone cannot deal with terrorism as long as countries continue to provide safe havens for terrorists. New Delhi believes that US operation against Osama bin Laden deep inside Pakistanraises the question about the sanctuary enjoyed by terrorists in Pakistan. Stating the relationship with Pakistan complicated by the issue of terrorism, Rao called for a need for Pakistan to take ameliorative action to eradicate terrorism against India. She added, We desire friendly and cooperative relations with Pakistan. A stable Pakistan which acts as a bulwark against terrorism and extremism is in its own interest as much it is in our interest and in the interest of our region. New Delhi has embarked on a comprehensive and serious dialogue with Pakistan on all issues of mutual interest and concern but alongside New Delhi hopes Pakistan will address our terrorism related concerns including the investigations and trial of the accused in the Mumbai terrorist attacks effectively and transparently. The US has also told Pakistan that it now needed to act against the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), US ambassador to India Timothy J.Roemer said on May 10 while stressing that his government had been building enormous pressure on Islamabad to target terror havens in its territory. "We share the targets and goals in terms of the LeT and have communicated to Pakistan that it now needs to act against the LeT as well as individuals," Roemer told journalists, days after US forces killed Osama bin Laden in his hideout in Pakistan's Abbottabad town. On Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani absolving intelligence agency ISI of any wrongdoing, Roemer said President Barack Obama had in the last 48 hours made it clear that the targets that US and India shared in terms of the LeT and individuals being indicted were more and more common. The envoy added that his government had been building immense pressure on Pakistan to go after safe havens in their country and target the Al Qaeda. He said Washington and New Delhi had come together to share intelligence in unprecedented ways in the last two years. "Our president has also supported India for a permanent seat in the UNSC," he added. "We are now working under the directions of the US and India to help build capacity here in India, forensic capabilities, the possibility of new national counter terrorism centre, share best practices and expertise as to how to prevent the next terrorist attack." India has released a list of 50 "most wanted fugitives" in Pakistan, including underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, 26/11 mastermind and LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, and dreaded terrorist Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi , hiding in that country. Indeed, after Osamas death, India's most wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim has emerged as the world's second most wanted man, next only to a Mexican drug lord. Dawood is an accused in the 1993 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 257 people and wounded 713 and is currently on the Interpol wanted list for organised crime and counterfeiting, besides association with alQaida. And according to the World's Most Wanted list published by The Guardian, like bin
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Laden, Ibrahim "may well be based in Pakistan!...The most wanted man in India heads up 5,000-strong organised crime network called the D-Company that is involved in everything from drugs trafficking to contract killing in Pakistan, India and the UAE," the publication said. Dawood apparently uses the same smuggling routes as al-Qaida, and has worked with both the mother organisation and its off-shoot LeT, responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Besides him, Hafiz Saeed, who is involved in Mumbai terror attack and various other attacks in India, tops the list which also includes Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar , the principal accused in the 2001 Parliament attack after his release in exchange of hostages in the Khandhar hijack episode in 1999. The list includes names of al Qaeda operative Illyas Kashmiri, who is accused of transnational crime and conspiracy to commit various terrorist acts in India, close associates of Dawood, Memon Ibrahim alias Tiger Memon, Shaikh Shakeel alias Chhota Shakeel, Memon Ayub Abdul Razak, Anis Ibrahim Kaskar Shaikh, Anwar Ahmed Haji Jamal and Mohammed Ahmed Dosa, all involved in the 1993 serial bombing in Mumbai. Chief of Hizbul Mujahideen Sayeed Salauddin, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front founder Amanullah Khan, Punjab terrorists Lakhbir Singh, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, Ranjit Singh alias Neeta and Wadhawa Singh were also named as most wanted fugitives. Names of Mumbai terror attack case accused Sajid Majid, Major Iqbal, Major Sameer Ali, Sayed Abdul Rehman alias Pasha and Abu Hamza are included in the list of fugitives. Mumbai Carnage Terrorist Testifies, Confesses The star witness in a terrorism case has testified that the Pakistani government helped support a terrorist group that carried out a massacre in Mumbai that killed more than 160 people, including six Americans. David Headley, a 50-year-old drug dealer turned informant who has pleaded guilty to helping plan the 2008 massacre, said Pakistan's intelligence service, the InterServices Intelligence (ISI), worked with the terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). "They coordinated with each other. The ISI provided assistance to Lashkar," Headley testified quietly. Asked what kind of assistance, he said, "Financial and military." The testimony came in the trial of Tahawwur Rana, whom Headley had befriended at boarding school in Pakistan. Rana, of Chicago, has been charged with helping Headley conduct surveillance ahead of the Mumbai attack as well as an attack on a newspaper in Copenhagen that was never carried out. Headley agreed to testify against Rana in exchange for federal prosecutors' agreeing not to seek the death penalty. Rana has pleaded not guilty. The case has garnered international attention amid accusations that elements of Pakistan's military may have helped shelter al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed by U.S. forces this month in Pakistan. Born in Washington, D.C., to an American mother and Pakistani father, Headley was raised in Pakistan and returned to the US as a teenager. He joined LeT in 2001 and testified that he had studied hand-to-hand combat, weaponry and the Quran in Lashkar training camps. In February 2006, he changed his name from Daood Gilani to David Coleman Headley in order to travel in India and not be identified as either a Pakistani or a Muslim. His Lashkar handlers told him that "one second of jihad was superior to 100 years of worship." After he attended five Lashkar training camps, Headley said, he asked to be sent to Kashmir to fight Indians. His handlers told him he would be more useful posing as an American and doing surveillance work. He moved to Mumbai to open a branch of Rana's immigration company and begin videotaping possible sites for the massacre. In fact, several detainees at the Guantanamo Bay facility told US interrogators that Pakistans official Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) facilitated militants to cross the border to carry out strikes on Indian targets chosen by the Pakistan Army, according to a fresh set of American diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. The interrogation reports quoted a detainee as saying that the ISI allowed militants to travel to India where they conducted bombings, kidnappings and killing of Kashmiri people. The US was long aware of the presence of anti-India terror training camps in Pakistan with several inmates telling investigators how the ISI allowed militants to carry out attacks in India. The disclosures are part of 779 interrogation reports from the facility of detainees from all over the world and show how a number of them were linked to the anti-Indian LeT and had received terror
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training in Pakistan. The reports quote detainees from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Pakistan as telling interrogators about their recruitment and subsequent travelling to Pakistan for terror training before their actual deployment for launching attacks against India and Afghanistan. An Algerian detainee Abdul Azia admitted he was a member of the LeT for which he noted that their mission [was] to kill Indians in India, says a detailed report of his interrogation, released by the whistleblower website. Detainee is assessed to have been recruited in Saudi Arabia and received training from the LeT in Pakistan. The detainee is further assessed to have participated in a combat in Kashmir, and then travelled to Afghanistan where he was injured, says a note about Azia. Records of a Pakistani prisoner named Mohammad Anwer showed that he travelled to Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir where he attended an LeT training camp for 21 days in 1998 and later served in Afghanistan. Detainee has been identified through sensitive reporting as a Pakistani ISI Directorate agent, the document says. One of the reports quotes Chaman Gul, an Afghan militant, as telling investigators about Mast Gul, a former Major of the Pakistani Army, who was a notorious terrorist who fought in Kashmir and planned terror attacks against a number of targets in Kabul. The detainee claimed that Mast Gul controlled all guerrilla activities in Kashmir from his home base in Muzaffarabad. Chaman said militants were deployed for three to four months and then asked to return. He said that as member of Hizb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, he was part of a plan to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the US Ambassador. In another such assessment report, a senior al-Qaeda operative was said to be planning to use Indians for terror attacks because of the low level of scrutiny Indians are subjected to in the western nations. Detainee admitted that he had considered using India as a platform to send operatives to the US or the UK because of the large Muslim population there and the low level of scrutiny given to travellers of Indian nationality, the document on Abu al-Libbi says. In a recent WikiLeaks expos, Pakistan's National Security Adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani told his Indian counterpart MK Narayanan in 2008 that his country had contacts with bad guys and perhaps one of them carried out a suicide bombing against the Indian embassy in Kabul in 2008. A suicide blast that rocked the Indian embassy on July 07, 2008, killed 58 people, including four Indians, two of them senior Indian diplomats. Durrani pointed out that Musharraf had blocked launch efforts' in Kashmir but said that perhaps one specific battalion on the border was a source of trouble. Pakistan's India Obsession a Mistake: Obama Pakistan's obsession with India that makes it look at its neighbour as an "existential threat" is a mistake and it would do well to shed this contest mentality, US President Barack Obama has said. Speaking to BBC on the eve of his visit to Britain, Obama said both he and British Prime Minister David Cameron understood that Pakistan has been "very obsessed" with India. He said the US wants Pakistan to realise that the biggest threat to it does not come from outside but is "homegrown". He said, "They see that as their existential threat. I think that's a mistake. I think that peace between India and Pakistan would serve Pakistan very well". He said Pakistan needs to shed its orientation of looking at every issue through the India lens to be able to make full economic progress. "It would free up resources and capacity for them to engage in trade and commerce, and make enormous strides that you're seeing India make." Obama added that it's been that orientation for a long time. And so they look at issues like Afghanistan or the border region in the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) through the lens of what does this mean for their contest with India. Obama said the US is currently trying to bring about a reorientation in Pakistan's attitude towards India and make it recognise that the main threat is from terrorists operating from Pakistan soil. He said, "Well, part of what we're trying to do is to talk to them about how they can reorient their strategy so that they understand that the biggest threat to Pakistan and its stability is home-grown. And that if we don't go after these networks that are willing to blow up police stations, blow up crowds of people, assassinate Pakistani elected officials with impunity - if they don't get a handle on that then they're gonna see a significant destabilisation of the country".
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Other top US lawmakers and experts have also asked Pakistan to come out of its Indiacentric mindset which they argued is nothing but destructive for it. "Pakistan's strategic view and posture vis--vis India is, at least in this senator's judgment, and I think for many people who so talk about it is absurd in this modern context," Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said at a Congressional hearing, adding "...but there just seems to be a kind of automatic historical, cultural desire to keep focusing on India. And it is depleting their ability to focus on their own economy, on their own needs. Michael Krepon, Co-Founder and Senior Associate South Asia, Henry Stimson Center, said, When I visit Pakistan, I get the sense that the Pakistani business community, the political classes, get it that they have no future if they're at constant war mentally with India. I think a lot of people get it now. But the national security establishment, which is a rather important part of Pakistan, still doesn't get itThe US ties with India are going to continue to get better, as they should. And Pakistan's national security establishment is going to feel more insecure as a resultWe can't convince Pakistan's military to befriend India. We can work with them to have a more normal relationship with India, especially in the areas of trade and regional development. The biggest challenge facing Pakistan's national security establishment is to recognise how growing links to extremist groups mortgage that country's futureThe ISI still doesn't get this. Outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba are the leading edge of Pakistan's national demise. If Pakistan's military leaders can't rethink the fundamentals of their anti-India policy and their increased reliance on nuclear weapons, they will never know true security. Separately, commenting on Pakistans over-the-top reaction to Indias modest presence in Afghanistan, former US National Security Advisor James Jones has said, "One Indian would be too much in Afghanistan" for Pakistan, and Islamabad has been extremely reluctant to positively respond to India's friendly gestures despite New Delhi doing "quite a bit" to relieve its fears of an Indian attack. Observing that Pakistan may be making too much noise of a "modest" Indian presence in Afghanistan, Jones said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been "visionary" in taking political risks to defuse tense situations and Pakistanis need to "seize this moment". "I think India has done quite a bit to relieve the fear that there might be an Indian attack. India, US Vow Closer Security Partnership The first US-India homeland security dialogue was held in New Delhi during which Home Minister P.Chidambaram and his American counterpart Janet Napolitano deliberated on issues like mutual assistance in probes like the Mumbai terror attacks and counterterrorism. Combating transnational crime, countering illicit financing, accessing and sharing of data relating to terrorism were among the key issues on the agenda. Other issues like coastal security, cyber security, mega city policing, providing homeland security equipment to each other and capacity building were also discussed. Chidambaram said that India lives in the "most difficult neighbourhood" in the world as terrorism infrastructure in Pakistan has flourished "as an instrument of state policy". He stressed on the need for a "stable, peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood" for the security of the people of India. The global epicentre of terrorism is in our immediate western neighbourhood. The vast infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan has for long flourished as an instrument of state policy," he said. Today, different terrorist groups, operating from the safe havens in Pakistan, are becoming increasingly fused. The society in Pakistan has become increasingly radicalised. Its economy has weakened and the state structure in Pakistan has become fragileGiven the complexity of our region, our Government has a comprehensive neighbourhood strategy that is based on political engagement, especially with Pakistan, support for political stability, assistance for economic development and improved connectivity and market access for our neighbours to the Indian economy," Chidambaram said, adding Pakistan had become a "fragile" state. Reflecting on the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November 2008 in which 166 people were killed, Napolitano said those who attacked the Indian city were as dangerous a foe as the worldwide al-Qaida terrorist network. Napolitano said there is little doubt about the threat posed by Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT), "In my judgment as the homeland security secretary, LeT
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ranks right up there with al-Qaida and the al-Qaida-related groups as a terrorist organization". She added that Washington will continue its strategic partnership with India. "That strategic partnership is only going to intensify in the months and years to come." Separately, a former Obama aide observed that the world, the United States in particular, "are lucky to have (Indian) Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh who has taken personal risk along the Pakistani-Indian border to make sure that there's no provocation. But it's a sensitive time because (if there is) another attack from Pakistan on India then it will be hard-pressed to contain a reaction that would greatly destabilise the region," former US National Security Advisor, Gen (Ret.) James Jones, said. Jones, who was President Obama's NSA for nearly two years, told reporters at National Press Club luncheon that the US has made Pakistan aware of this in clear terms. "We have carried that message to them several times. So let's hope that now that bin Laden hunt has been concluded that we can build on the relationship and do the things that are absolutely important for our collective security," he observed. "The downside risks are that any other attacks emanating from the territory, where the Pakistan government could have and did not move against a terrorist safe haven, and a successful attack is carried out in another country, whether it's Europe, the US or India, it will be very hard for any leader to resist the hue and cry from the public to say, you know, why don't you do something about this?" Jones said. India has again spoken against U.S.military aid to Pakistan which it says is being used by Islamabad against Indian interests. "This (aid) is being used against us, which is not a nice gesture on the part of (the) US and we have raised this issue with them many times," Defence Minister A.K.Antony was quoted. US aid to Pakistan is viewed with concern in India and has been an issue as Washington looks to upgrade strategic and economic ties with India. India's charges against Islamabad received further substance after the testimony of the star witness in a Chicago trial linked to the Mumbai attacks. Pakistan has received $20.7 b worth of US assistance over the past decade, about two-thirds of it military aid. US lawmakers have questioned the continuation of that aid since the discovery and killing by US forces of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. Osama Killing Deepens Distrust of Pakistan Commenting on Osama bin Ladens death, Indias External Affairs Minister, Mr.S.M.Krishna noted, This operation brings to closure an almost decade-long search for the head of the Al Qaeda. It is a historic development and victorious milestone in the global war against the forces of terrorism. Krishna however quickly cautioned, The world must not let down its united effort to overcome terrorism and eliminate the safe havens and sanctuaries that have been provided to terrorists in our own neighbourhood. The struggle must continue unabated. Noting that bin Laden was killed in Abottabad, deep inside Pakistani territory, Krishna said, "I think Pakistan has a lot to explain on that score. Indeed, Osamas killing does not mean the end of the war against terrorism, as safe havens still exist, India has said, underlining the need to root out the syndicate of terrorism, which includes elements of the al-Qaida, Taliban and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). "Without the elimination of terrorist safe heavens and sanctuaries there can be no end to the global war on terror," India's envoy to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said at a counterterrorism meeting at the UN. "We believe that for security and stabilisation of Afghanistan, it is important to isolate and root out the syndicate of terrorism which includes elements of the Al Qaida, Taliban, LeT and other terrorist and extremist groups operating from within and outside Afghanistan borders," he added. Puri is the current chair of a UN Counter-Terrorism Committee that was established after 9/11 to help prevent terrorist acts. Puri warned against differentiating between the Al-Qaida and the Taliban and other terrorist groups. "These groups are operationally and ideologically fused," he said, adding that India supported reintegration by the Afghanistan government of those individuals who abjure violence, give up armed struggle, do not have links with terrorist groups, and are willing to abide by the values of democracy. "Otherwise, we risk Afghanistan sliding back to becoming a safe haven for terrorists and extremist groups." Puri also pointed out the dangers of weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of nonstate actors and terrorists and warned against clandestine proliferation networks.
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Indias Home Minister P. Chidambaram said in a statement, "We take note with grave concern that part of the statement in which President Obama said that the fire fight in which Osama bin Laden was killed took place in Abbotabad 'deep inside Pakistan...This fact underlines our concern that terrorists belonging to different organizations find sanctuary in Pakistan." "Pak unmasked" was the breaking news line on a major Indian news channel; another pondered whether bin Laden had, in fact, died in a safe house belonging to Pakistans ISI spy agency. The Times of India phrased it, less diplomatically, as Pak of Lies. US kills bin Laden inyou knew itPakistan, proclaimed the daily Asian Age. From the political establishment to ordinary people, Osamas killing have only deepened the distrust felt by Indians towards Pakistan. The Mumbai attacks "meant that suspicion of Pakistan was sunk really deep into the Indian psyche; it is not limited to the political establishment," says Mahesh Rangarajan, a political analyst in New Delhi. Since then, New Delhi has repeatedly demanded that Islamabad hand over those accused in recent investigations and called for Pakistan to stop providing a safe haven for terrorists. It came as little surprise in Indias capital when Osama was found deep inside Pakistan, living just a short walk from the military academy. An undercurrent of I-told-you-so is rippling through Indias policymakers, media and ordinary people. Now, there is a feeling in the USA that Pakistan has been deceiving them, said M.K.Rasgotra, a former Indian foreign secretary. Few observers in India believe that Pakistans military or intelligence agency wasnt aware, at least in some way, by the presence in Abbottabad of the worlds most hunted man. Longtime ties between Pakistan and a string of Islamic militant movements mean that dozens of generals, retired spies and other powerful officials could have links to bin Ladens inner circle. Even if bin Ladens presence was unknown to top officials, there are current and former operatives who would have been willing to hide him, analysts say. Kashmiri Militants Seeking to Rejoin Mainstream On a positive note, a large number of Kashmiri militants are seeking to rejoin the mainstream. Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said the government has received nearly 700 applications from local militants in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) who want to renounce violence and join the mainstream. "The response to the rehabilitation policy (for these militants) has been better than expected. We have received 600 to 700 applications," Omar said. Of these, 125 have been cleared for the militants to return to the state, he said. "The information will be passed to their (militants') families now on how they can come back." The insanity clause Banyan, The Economist, May 7, 2011 You dont have to be crazy to run counter-terrorism in Pakistan; but it helps to appear so. Under your own nose is often the last place you look for something you have mislaid. But in this case the missing object was the target of perhaps the most expensive manhunt in history. It seems inconceivable that parts of the Pakistani establishment were unaware that Osama bin Laden was living in their midst. You might think it also seems unbelievable that Pakistan could be so breathtakingly duplicitous and take such a risk of antagonising America, its most important ally. In fact, you would be wrong: high-risk duplicity has long been the hallmark of Pakistani foreign policy. You never know when the worlds most-wanted man might come in handy. Some members of the Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI, Pakistans spy agency, probably thought it a good idea to hang on to Mr bin Laden. The reasons lie in Pakistans tortured relations with America, with Islamist extremism and with India. Deadly Embrace, a recent book on the America-Pakistan relationship, by Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer who chaired a review ordered by Barack Obama of policy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, shows that Pakistan has long seen the United States as a fickle friend. Viewed from Islamabad, the relationship is a history of betrayals. In the 1950s the two countries spooks got on famously. An American U-2 spy plane captured in the Soviet Union in 1960 had taken off from a secret airbase near Peshawar. Yet when
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Pakistan went to war with India in 1965, America stayed neutral. Nor, despite Pakistans role in arranging his opening to China, was Richard Nixon much help when East Pakistan seceded to become Bangladesh in 1971though he managed to antagonise India by sending an aircraft-carrier into the Bay of Bengal. Close co-operation in the 1980s in arming and training mujahideen fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan soon turned into sanctions over Pakistans nuclear programme. So on September 11th 2001, Pakistans then dictator, Pervez Musharraf, according to his memoirs, thought hard before succumbing to Americas threats and offering help in the looming war in Afghanistan. Pakistans role in that war has been ambiguous. It has provided vital access. It has sacrificed hundreds of soldiers lives fighting terrorists. It has tolerated hugely unpopular drone attacks on Taliban and al-Qaeda targets in its territory. It has let hundreds of CIA agents roam about. When one of them shot two people dead in a Lahore street in January, it even, eventually, let him go. It has also captured and handed over al-Qaeda fighters670 of them by 2006 according to Mr Musharraf, including in 2003 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Yet Pakistan has also done much to help the Afghan Taliban rebuild itself after crushing defeat in 2001. It is even harder now to believe Pakistans denials that the groups leader, Mullah Omar, lives in its territory. The army has been selective in the extremists it has attacked. The Haqqani network, which reserves its firepower for targets in Afghanistan, has been immune. So, the world now knows, was the biggest terrorist prize of all. It may even be that his protectors had sympathy for Mr bin Laden and his views. Hamid Gul, a former head of the ISI, has promoted conspiracy theories about 9/11. He also believesless controversially in Pakistanthat the Taliban is the future for Afghanistan. You can choose your friends, but not your neighbours. Americans come and go, but India will be there forever, and deeply ingrained in the Pakistani security establishment are the beliefs first, that India is the real enemy, and second, that to remain safe from it, Pakistan needs the strategic depth of a friendly Afghan neighbour. The Taliban, moreover, are predominantly ethnic Pushtuns, like many Pakistanis. The strategy of using Islamist militants to topple a big power worked well in Afghanistan and was tried again against India in Kashmir. The links built up during the two insurgencies between the ISI, the army and the militants go deep. It seems highly unlikely that the Pakistani terrorists who attacked Mumbai in November 2008, for example, did so without some official connivance. The aim would be to raise tension with India, justifying Pakistans army in concentrating its forces on its eastern frontier. Since India and Pakistan both have nuclear weapons, this may be the highest-risk strategy of all. At home, the extremists now seem out of control, threatening the very survival of a moderate Pakistan. Yet the government still seems ambivalent about them. Denying in the Washington Post this week any Pakistani knowledge of Mr bin Ladens whereabouts these past ten years, Pakistans president, Asif Ali Zardari, resorted to a familiar defence. Pakistan is perhaps the worlds greatest victim of terrorism, which has taken the lives of 30,000 Pakistani civilians. It makes no sense, he implied, to be collaborating with terrorists. Mr Zardari is right: it is a policy of almost lunatic recklessness. It assumes America is too dependent on Pakistans help to ditch it again. It assumes India will withstand almost any provocation. And it assumes the rise of extremism in Pakistan itself can still be contained. It is that final assumption that has looked shakiest this year. Two moderate politicians have been assassinated for advocating reform of the unjust blasphemy law. Few have dared condemn, and many have praised, their murderers. If it were located anywhere else, Pakistanwhich also has the worlds worst record on
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nuclear proliferationmight be treated as a rogue state. But it is too important. The fear of its lurching into fundamentalist hands is in turn part of what restrains America and India. That would be a catastrophe for the war in Afghanistan, for Indias hopes of a prosperous future in a calmer region and, most of all, for the vast majority of Pakistanis, who show little sign of hankering for harsh clerical rule. India, Africa Hold Second Summit Heads of State and Government and heads of other delegations from various countries of Africa, the African Union (AU) and its Institutions, and Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh of India, met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from May 24-25, to continue their dialogue, deepen the friendship and enhance their cooperation, under the theme: Enhancing Partnership: Shared Vision, under the ambit of the 2nd Africa-India Forum Summit, following the First Summit held in New Delhi in 2008. Addressing the Plenary on May 24, PM Singh observed that this was a historic gathering, being the first time that the leaders of India and Africa were meeting on such a scale on African soil. The India-Africa partnership is unique and owes its origins to history and our common struggle against colonialism, apartheid, poverty, disease, illiteracy and hungerIt was (in Africa) that Mahatma Gandhi developed his political philosophy and developed the concepts of non-violence and peaceful resistance. At the first India-Africa Forum Summit in 2008 in New Delhiour conviction that a robust and contemporary IndiaAfrica partnership is an idea whose time has comeMany events involving a wide crosssection of society, include trade and businesshave contributed to making the second Africa-India Forum Summit a peoples movementwe have reason to be satisfied with what we have achieved since 2008The current international economic and political situation is far from favourable, particularly for developing countriesWe must recognise that in this globalised age we all live interconnected lives in a small and fragile planetThere is a new economic growth story emerging from AfricaIndia will work with Africa to realise its vast potentialwe have some experience in nation building which we are happy to share with our African brothers and sisters. It is in this spirit that I wish to outline some initiatives for the consideration of our African partners. These will enhance our development partnership which are founded on the pillars of mutual equality and common benefitWe will offer 5 billion US dollars for the next three years under lines of credit to help Africa achieve its development goals. We will offer an additional 700 million US dollars to establish new institutions and training programmes in consultation with the African Union and its institutionswe would support the development of a new Ethio-Djibouti Railway line to the tune of 300 million US dollars. Following the success of the Pan-African E-Network Project we propose to take the next step and establish an India-Africa Virtual UniversityWe further propose that 10,000 new scholarships under this proposed University will be available for African students after its establishmentWe are substantially raising the number of scholarships and training slots for African students and experts, including under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme. Our total commitment for the next three years by way of scholarships to Africa students will stand at more than 22,000I wish to propose the establishment of the following new institutions at the pan African level: an India-Africa Food Processing Cluster; an India-Africa Integrated Textiles Cluster; An India-Africa Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting; support the establishment of an India-Africa University for Life and Earth Sciences; an India-Africa Institute of Agriculture and Rural Development. At the bilateral level, we propose to establish institutes for English language training, information technology, entrepreneurship development and vocational training. As part of our new initiatives in the social and economic sectors we will establish Rural Technology Parks, Food Testing Laboratories, Food Processing Business Incubation Centres and Centres on Geo-Informatics Applications and Rural DevelopmentI propose that we establish an India-Africa Business Council which will bring together business leaders from both sides The Summit concluded with Addis Ababa Declaration, which, recalling that Africa and India have been fraternal partners and allies in the struggle for independence and achievement of self-determination, reaffirmed that the partnership remains based on the fundamental
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principles of equality, mutual respect, mutual benefit and the historical understanding amongst our peoples. The leaders recognized that Africa and India have today a good platform to expand their partnership for development, and decided to enhance their partnership with new initiatives for the mutual benefit of Africa and India. In recent years, this has included substantial financial flows from India to Africa in terms of grants, Foreign Direct Investment and concessional loans that continue to contribute to capacity building in the socio-economic sectors, particularly in the human resource development, the development of the private sector, increasing support to infrastructure, agriculture and SMEs, leading to a substantial expansion of Indian investment in Africa and of trade between Africa and India. The leaders agreed to build upon this, in areas of sharing strategies for sustainable development, poverty alleviation, healthcare and universal education, and sharing appropriate technologies. Africa and India reiterated their intention to ensure that the interests of developing counties are safeguarded and that socio-economic development requirements of our various counties are guaranteed. They affirmed their commitment to multilateralism and to strengthening the democratic structure of the UN to increase the participation of developing counties in decision-making processes. The expansion of the UN Security Council, in permanent and non-permanent categories of membership, with increased participation of developing counties in both categories, is central to the process of reform and for enhancing the credibility of the UN, with Africa taking note of India's position and its aspirations to become a permanent member with full rights in an expanded UN Security Council, and emphasized the need for utmost effort on the UN Security Council reform during the current session of the UN General Assembly. They called for negotiating specific steps to reduce and finally eliminate nuclear weapons, leading to a world free from all weapons of mass destruction as envisaged in the Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan of 1988. The leaders unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. An act of terrorism anywhere is a threat to the entire international community. They recognized the need to further strengthen international cooperation to combat global terrorism. They deplored the tragic losses arising from terrorist attacks and call for the active prosecution of the authors of such crimes and their accomplices, and urge that they be brought to justice expeditiously. They pledged to work to eradicate drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, organized crime and money laundering. The leaders adopted the Africa-India Framework for Enhanced Cooperation to supplement the existing Framework, which specified the cooperation measures in the areas of economic (Agriculture, Trade, Industry and Investment, Small and Medium Enterprises, Finance, Regional Integration), political (Peace and Security, Civil Society and Governance), science, technology, research & development (Science & Technology, Information and Communication Technology), social development and capacity building, health, culture and sports, tourism, infrastructure, energy and environment, and in media and communications. Speaking to the media at the conclusion of the Summit, PM Singh said it was an important day with the Africa Day - signifying their unity for peace and development befittingly coinciding with the Second Africa-India Forum Summit. The documents adopted are extremely broad ranging and comprehensive, and he was extremely optimistic about the future of the cooperation. The African continent today is on the path of resurgence. We deeply value our friendship with African countries as well as the trust and confidence which our African partners have reposed in us. India UNSC Bid Gathers Steam India will achieve a historic milestone in 2013 by overtaking Japan to become the world's third largest economy, after the US and China, with an estimated GDP by PPP of $4.41 trillion to Japan's estimated $4.32 tr, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers estimate. The credibility of the UN Security Council (UNSC) without India's permanent membership would then be rendered increasingly tenuous, analysts say, adding that the US President Barack Obama was right when he told the Indian Parliament last November that the UNSC, the world's rulemaking body, cannot be "effective, efficient, credible and legitimate" without India's permanent
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membership. As even the determinedly conservative, The Economist, acknowledged: "The case for (UNSC) reform is overwhelming." But what sort of reformed UNSC will serve the world more credibly than the current one? The UNSC reform process is a quagmire. A twothirds majority in the General Assembly (128 out of 192 countries) is needed to approve it and two-thirds of these countries' national legislatures, including those of all the permanent members, the P5, must ratify an amendment in the UN Charter. At the end of this fraught process, however, there will be a UNSC that reflects today's, not yesterday's, world and deals firmly but fairly with global problems. The four candidates for a permanent UNSC seat (the G4: India, Brazil, Germany and Japan) are making a concerted new effort to break the reform logjam. By happenstance, three of the G4 (except Japan) are currently nonpermanent members of the UNSC for two years. They are determined to use the two-year window to foster a decision. China too has extended support, qualified, for India's bid. So the momentum is building. Four of the P5 (barring China) have given their unequivocal support to the G4. The US has floated a proposal to give the G4 plus South Africa permanent membership, but without a veto for an initial 15-year period. India's candidature has received official backing from the Republican-controlled US House of Representative, which has ratified a resolution supporting Indian permanent membership. With this powerful public endorsement, the remnants of opposition can be expected to be neutralized over the next few months. A successful outcome will serve a larger purpose; with India's permanent membership at its heart, the UNSC as an international force for good will finally, 66 years after its establishment, be both - as President Obama said - "effective, efficient, credible, legitimate", and - though the US President did not say it - genuinely democratic. India Welcomes Palestine Reconciliation On May 6 India issued a statement welcoming the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas which ended the differences between the West Bank and Gaza, and hoped that this would promote the realization of the aspirations of the Palestinian people, and leads to peace and stability in the region. UN Seeks Indian Expertise For Arab Elections With Egypt preparing for a transition to democracy, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) invited the Election Commission of India for a meeting in Cairo on May 2-3 for discussions on providing help to countries in the Arab region, including Egypt and Tunisia, in holding elections. Besides India, experts from S.Africa and Mexico were also invited, which was attended by some 60 representatives of national electoral management bodies and civil society organizations from a number of Arab countries. The invitation came in the backdrop of Chief Election Commissioner of India S Y Quraishi leading a delegation to Egypt from April 20-22, at the request of Interim Government in Egypt to explore possibilities of Indias support to Egypt in its electoral process. Egypt has requested India to share its experience in voters education, electronic voting machines (EVM) and technology-based election tracking and facilitation system. China Thanks India For Foiling Pirate Attack The Chinese vessel MV Fu Cheng (Full City) faced a pirate attack 450 nautical miles off the Karwar Coast (of Karnataka) while on its way from Jeddah to Tuticorin port on May 6. The Indian Navy swung into action and mobilised its aircraft and ships immediately on receiving an SOS call. A TU142 maritime reconnaissance aircraft and a Coast Guard boat were dispatched immediately. The aircraft observed a pirate mother ship next to MV Full City and an empty skiff alongside the ship. The aircraft made a number of low passes over the ship and strongly warned the pirates by radio, asking them to leave the ship immediately. The pilots announced that warships were closing in. The warning had effect. The Somali pirates left the ship and headed in the skiff for the mother ship. As there were no surface forces in the immediate vicinity to board MV Full City to check the ships sanitization status, the TU-142 flew overhead the Chinese merchant ship for over three hours assisting the rescue operation by coordinating with the NATO task force. The aircraft finally left after over four hours, on successfully repelling the piracy attack and ensuring that surface forces were within range to proceed with the boarding and sanitising operations. A message of thanks for the Indian
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Navy came from Beijing. Acknowledging Indian Navy's effort in rescuing the 24 Chinese sailors on board the ship, Chinese Vice-Minister of Transport Xu Zuyuan said, "It was thus the navies of other countries, Turkey's and India's among them that helped to drive away the pirates and escorted the ship to safety. This was for the first time top Chinese officials acknowledged the anti-piracy efforts of Indian Navy. Pure unmixed non-violence is impossible as Euclids line. - Mahatma Gandhi
India Soon to be the Fastest Growing Economy PM Manmohan Singh has said India will soon become the fastest growing economy, having expanded admirably in the past few years despite the difficult global situation. "We are already the fastest growing democracy," he said at a dinner in Delhi to celebrate two years of the second United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. "If each one of us continues to work hard with dedication, commitment and honesty, I am sure India will soon emerge as the fastest growing economy." He said in the past 7 years when the UPA has been in power, the country had grown at an unprecedented 8.5% annually despite grave global financial crises and slowdown. "It has also been achieved overcoming the problem of high energy prices and rising food costs," adding that India had a long road to traverse to banish poverty and provide gainful employment to all as part of the overall focus on inclusive growth. Morgan Stanley is also bullish on the India growth story. David Darst, MD and Chief Investment Strategist of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, says that the India growth story in the longer-term is very attractive. We view India as an investment opportunity, he adds. The earnings growth is about 20% this year and will be another 12-15% next year. We like those earnings dynamics. In longer-term, we see a tremendously attractive growth story for India. Consumer markets, service economy, infrastructure developments, incredible demographic dynamic and structural positioning of India is in a very sweet spot. In longerterm, Morgan Stanley has a tremendously positive view of India as an investment opportunity. There is a lot of good feeling, grasp and engagement by our investor base of India as a growth story in the intermediate and longer-term. In a further expression of confidence in the India growth story, foreign institutional investors (FII) increased ownership in corporate India by 170 basis points to 20.4% in 2010-11, purchasing depository receipts and through market operations. FIIs bought a record US$24.6 b worth of shares in 2010-11, of which $13.7 b were through primary sources and the balance from the trading platform of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). FIIs hold a fourth of market value of private sector companies and 7.7% in government-owned ones. India, along with five other emerging economies, will account for more than half of all global growth by 2025, predicts the World Bank in its Global Development Horizons 2011 Multipolarity: The New Global Economy report, which observes that India and other BRIC countries, among others, would help drive growth in lower income countries through crossborder commercial and financial transactions, and that the international monetary system would no longer be dominated by a single currency. The report projects that as a group, emerging economies will grow on an average by 4.7% a year between 2011 and 2025 and posits that India and China were likely to be the main flag-bearers among emerging market growth poles in the years ahead and that the combined real output of six major emerging economies would match that of the euro area by 2025. Todays emerging economies will, in real terms, account for 45% of global output, compared with about 37% in 2011 and 30% in 2004, the report observes. Observing that innovation and innovative capacity were already rising in emerging economies, the report showers praise on Tatas Nano car as an example of the importance of research and development. The Asian Development Bank also makes a similar projection in its report that India and six other major economies in Asia will drive the regions growth and could account for
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more than half of the global GDP by 2050. India would grow to be a $40.4 trillion economy. Although Indias share in the global GDP would be 14% vis--vis Chinas 22%, India will witness a faster rate of economic growth in the next 40 years compared to China. This is due to the fact that India has a young population which will grow into a one billion strong work force by 2050, which will be 25% more than China. Also, the average per capita income of seven Asian countriesIndia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, and Thailandwould be US$ 45,800, 25% higher than the global average of US$36,600, according to the report. India and other major emerging economies are also leading the global economic recovery according to the UNs latest mid-year issue of the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP). "The rebound has been led by the large emerging economies in Asia and Latin America, particularly China, India and Brazil[W]eaknesses in major developed economies continue to drag the global recovery and pose risks for world economic stability in the coming years," avers the report, observing that the export volumes of many emerging economies, including India, have already recovered to, or exceeded, pre-crisis peaks, whereas this is not the case with exports of developed economies. The report adds that in 2011, global oil demand is expected to increase further, with most of the demand growth continuing to come from emerging economies, especially India and China. The report also praises the effectiveness of Indias employment programmes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, under which 100 days of employment at the minimum wage are provided annually to 43 million low-income households. India Among Most Entrepreneur-Friendly India has been ranked among the worlds most entrepreneur friendly nations, with the best culture for people to start a new business, according to a new 24-country BBC World Service global poll. The results are drawn from a survey of 24,537 adult citizens across 24 countries, which also included Mexico, among others. Most countries surveyed in Asia were found to have a well-developed entrepreneurship culture, and except Pakistan, all had good ratings on the entrepreneur-friendly index. Indonesia scored the highest ratings of all participating countries in the survey (2.81), while India was ranked fourth (2.73), ahead of China (2.66). The internet is also making increasingly greater contribution to the Indian economy. A new study by McKinsey employing an approach based on internet-enabled consumption patterns by individuals, businesses and governments found the internet contributed 5% to Indias GDP growth in the past 5 years, higher than the corresponding figure for the other BRIC economies, viz., Brazil (2%), Russia (1%) and China (3%). The study found that the internet contributes more to GDP than agriculture, energy, and several other traditional sectors do in many countries. India also tops the sales focus for major global corporations, and a third of companies also see India and China as the top markets for production, according to a survey study by accountants Ernst & Young, released on May 6. It found that 47% of highperforming global firms saw India as the most important market for sales while 44% named China. The importance of India and China remained the same regardless of where the firms were headquartered, the study found. On a broader level, which included top-performing as well as less successful companies, India was seen as the top focus of 34%. Among BRIC, Brazil was the main focus for 19% of companies and Russia for 14%. "It appears that the combination of high volume and rapid growth in the India and China markets lifts them outside the normal more regional focus," Ernst & Young said. The study, conducted for Ernst & Young by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), interviewed 400 top-level executives at leading international corporations in January and February 2011. It distinguished between top-performing and less successful companies on the basis of revenue and EBITDA growth. Almost half the high-performance companies named economic growth forecasts as the main factor for sales and investment strategies. The study found that the top markets for production for all respondents were China (30%) and India (28%), followed by Brazil and Mexico with 12% each. But among high performers, more preferred India than all others.
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India Targets Exports of $500 b in 2013-14 The Government of India has set a target of doubling the countrys exports to $500 billion exports by 2013-14 from the level of $246 b attained in 2010-11 by strategizing the countrys foreign trade through diversification of products and markets and technological enhancement. The thrust areas would be high technology exports such as engineering, electronics, automobiles, drugs and pharmaceuticals, computer and software-based smart engineering, green technology products and aerospace. Indias spice exports already saw a three-fold rise in value terms in the last 5 years and a 60% increase in quantity. Exports of spices and spice products stood at US$1.35 b during the April-February period of fiscal 2010-11, as a result of the combined effect of an increase in the prices of major items, a moderate increase in the quantity of exports and higher exports of value-added items. Gem & jewellery exports also continue to be buoyant, with overall exports reaching US$3.22 b in April. Exports of cut and polished diamonds, which account for 65.5% of the total gem and jewellery exports, increased 55% in the last fiscal over the preceding year to reach $28.3 b. Exports of silver jewellery also witnessed a strong growth of over 34% from April 2010 to reach $40 m this April. "We have witnessed good business after recession and we hope that it will continue. We expect around 20% increase in exports this year," said Sanjay Kothari, Vice Chairman of Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) of India. 10,000 km New Highways Planned For the Year The much-needed infrastructure development for further accelerating economic growth is also racing ahead at full steam. In what would constitute a major opportunity for construction companies, the Government of India plans to award projects covering 10,000 km of highways during the current fiscal which began April 1. About 80% of these would be awarded on the buildoperate-transfer (BOT) mode. Our target is to award 59 projects covering 7,994 km on BOT (toll) mode. Another 1,000 km will be awarded on annuity and EPC (engineering, procurement and contract) and the remaining will be awarded by the state governments, said Indias Road transport and Highways minister, C P Joshi. India Set to Bridge Global Manpower Shortages As a result of its demographic dividend and the high quality of its human resources, India is well placed to address the shortage of skilled workers in the developed countries with their aging populations. For instance, officials in Australia and India are considering a plan to train tens of thousands of Indian students to work in Australia's booming natural resources industries. The idea being discussed among Australian and Indian officials, academics and business leaders is to establish Australian schools in India to train students for jobs in Australia's natural resources industry. Qualified graduates would be allowed to go directly into jobs in the mining industry in Western Australia and Queensland. In Canberra, the federal government is predicting a shortfall of more than 35,000 skilled workers in the resources sector by 2015. Many economists believe Australia must increase its skilled workforce to meet the demand of the countrys mining boom, which is driven by Chinas enormous appetite for iron ore and coal. An Australian financial adviser said the solution to Australias labour market problems lies overseas. "Were an immigrant nation. A quarter of all Australians were born overseas. Forty per cent of us have a parent born overseas and it is very, very important that given we are such a high growth country with very, very high potential that we continue to import the labour we require to support the economy." Refining Capacity To See Quantum Jump India's petroleum refining capacities are expected to rise to 240 million tonne per annum (MTPA) by March 2012 from the current 188 MTPA, attracting an estimated investment of US$13.4-14.5 b. Mr.S.Sundereshan, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, says the country would have an excess petroleum refining capacity of around 90 MTPA in the next 12 to 18 months: "Currently, we have an installed refining capacity of 188 MTPA, while several greenfield refinery projects are lined up and are expected to be operational by March 2012. This will increase the total refining capacity to 240 MTPA...We will be actually exporting a total of 90
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m tonne of petroleum products to some of the most developed countries including the US and European countries." India BioTech To Be $10 b Industry by 2015 The Indian biotechnology sector is expected to attain the $10 b mark by 2015 on the back of emerging opportunities across various verticals, namely biopharma, agri-biotechnology, industrial biotechnology, among others. Currently, the Indian biotechnology sector is estimated to be around $4 b, of which around 40% is contributed by Karnataka. Bangalore hosts 52% of the core biotechnology companies in the country and around five top biotech companies are in the city. It shows the favourable ecosystem for biotechnology industry in the state. We will make further efforts to boost growth of the industry, Chief Minister of Karnataka, B.S Yeddyurappa said after inaugurating Bangalore India Bio 2011 on May 5. He added that the state was about to open four biotechnology parks in various parts of the state. Around 12 finishing schools, to create skilled workforce for the industry, will start their next academic session in a few months, which will impart the required skill to the students, added Yeddyurappa. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD of Biocon, observed, The whole world is looking towards emerging economies for providing solutions to global health and other problems. As India has the necessary talent pool, cost advantage along with entrepreneurial drive, we should take the benefit of this emerging opportunity. On their part, Indian authorities are taking active steps to link required fund for start-ups to conduct research. The global biotechnology industry, estimated to be worth $140 b, is slowly looking towards emerging economies like India, Brazil and China to drive further growth in the industry. Strong Spurt In Tech Demand Foreseen Indias information technology (IT) industry body, viz., National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), sees a strong revival of demand that could not only help meet, but even exceed, growth expectations for 2011-12. Observed co-founder and chairman of education software company, NIIT and Nasscom Chairman Rajendra S Pawar, "We are coming back to growth levels seen prior to the slowdown and in the near term we see lot of headroom to catapult this growth.'' Asked whether this means Nasscom would revise its 1517 % growth target for the year for the $70 billion technology and business services sector, Pawar said, "It's too early to comment, but we are on track to exceed this target...There are a lot of SMEs focused on software products, telecom, internet space, all driven by intellectual property. By the end of this decade we see quite a few of them becoming very big'...Government technology initiatives are beginning to get critical mass. We will engage with these projects and see what opportunity is available to companies. Nasscom would push for private sector partnerships in e-governance projects. The optimistic prognosis has sent several IT companies on a hiring spree. For instance, Indias second-largest software exporter Infosys Technologies Ltd.plans to ramp up hiring in the US, China and other overseas markets as it seeks to check rising employee turnover and boost profits. Infosys plans to hire as many as 1,500 workers in US, its biggest market, this year, and drastically increase its workforce in China by investing in a new campus in Shanghai, says COO S.D.Shibulal. On May 21, Infosys Technologies Chairman N R Narayana Murthy laid the foundation of the new Shanghai campus, and announced plans to treble the company's business operations in China. Observing that the new campus being built on 15 acres of land at a cost of $150 m would be the largest software development centre of Infosys outside India, Murthy pointed out that the operations in China currently account for one to 1.5% of the company's total business volume, but Infosys plans to raise it to 5% over the next three years. The company, which has a staff of 3,200 in Shanghai at present, will employ a total of 10,000 professionals by the time the new campus becomes operational. Infoys also plans to increase its workforce in Mexico; according to Shibulal, Mexico is a very good place to have a nearshore centre for serving the US market. India Tests First 600-MW Turbo Generator Indias state-owned major, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), announced the successful manufacture and testing of the country's first turbo generator of 600 MW rating. It will be supplied and
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installed at the upcoming North Chennai Thermal Power Project of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. In addition to subcritical thermal power plants of 600 MW rating, these turbo generators will cater to the requirements of thermal power stations with supercritical turbines of 660 and 700 MW ratings, it added. Several sets of 600 MW, 660 MW, 700 MW and 800 MW ratings are at present under various stages of manufacture at BHEL's plant at picturesque city of Haridwar in Northern India. The facility for assembly and testing of this series of generators has been designed and engineered in-house at the Haridwar plant. The new facility has the capability to manufacture and test turbo generators of up to 1,000 MW rating and has test pits for assembly of two generators simultaneously. Indias First Fast Breeder Nuclear Reactor Indias first indigenously developed fast breeder nuclear reactor would be ready by end of the next year. The upcoming 500-MW prototype fast breeder reactor is being built by Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (Nuclear Power Corporation of India), at a cost of about $1.26 b and would go on stream next year, with the cost per unit (kWh) of power generated being 10, according to Prabhat Kumar, Project Director. He added that India planned to complete a further six fast breeder nuclear reactors by 2023, each with a capacity of 500 MW, and that the cost of future units would be lower. India To Launch French Satellite Due to the costeffectiveness of India-made PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) and GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) rockets, many countries prefer India to launch their satellites. Thus, continuing its programme of commercial launch of foreign satellites, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has lined up launch of an image capturing satellite of France next year, according to P.S.Veeraraghavan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), a unit of ISRO. Because of our cost effective technology, many developed nations, including France and the US are willing to launch their satellites with our system. Many smaller and mini satellite launching programmes on commercial basis are in offing, says Veeraraghavan, adding that ISRO is working on a project to develop reusable satellite launcher, which would increase the profitability of the commercial launches. ISRO recently successfully placed Singapore's first experimental satellite in space. India has so far launched 27 foreign satellites and 60 satellites of Indian make. Separately, India's latest communication satellite GSAT-8 was successfully launched on May 21 by Arianespace from Kourou in French Guiana to give a boost to direct-to-home (DTH) services in the country. GSAT-8 was injected into space by European launcher Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket which lifted off with Japan's ST-2 spacecraft as copassenger. Weighing 3,100 kg at lift-off, GSAT-8 is one of the heaviest and high-powered satellites built by the Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). An ISRO team, which witnessed the launch, expressed delight over the successful mission. "I am extremely happy to announce that ISRO's Master Control Facility at Hassan near Bangalore has confirmed the reception of signals from GSAT-8 and taken charge of the command and control of GSAT-8 immediately after its injection into the geostationary transfer orbit," ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said. He added the user community in India was looking forward for the operationalisation of the 24 high-power Ku-band transponders into the Indian National Satellite system. GSAT-8 carried 24 transponders to augment India's Ku-band relay capabilities, primarily for direct-to-home TV broadcast services, with a coverage zone including the entire Indian subcontinent. Additionally, GSAT8 carried the two-channel GAGAN system for aircraft navigation assistance over Indian airspace and adjoining areas. India To Add 67,000 MW Solar Power By 2022 Technological breakthroughs and economies of scale will make solar power competitive in 6 years and help India add 67,000 MW of solar generation capacity by 2022, more than thrice the country's target, according to a report by consultancy firm, KPMG. The report says solar energy can contribute 7% of the total power needs of the country by 2022, helping cut coal imports by 30% or 71 m tonne a year, resulting in saving of $5.5 b in imports per year from
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2022 onwards, and that the projected increase in solar capacity could reduce India's carbon emissions by 2.5%. It is estimated that solar power prices would decline at the rate of 7% per annum over the next decade. Efficiency improvement due to technological advancement and emergence of low cost manufacturing are likely factors that would aid the continuing trend. Indias National Solar Mission is gathering momentum as more projects move towards financial closure and achieve land acquisition. The appraised projects include smaller projects of 1 and 2 MW, 5 MW solar photovoltaic projects and large scale solar thermal projects. Several major institutions have come forward to advance money for the projects. Lux Research solar analyst Ted Sullivan says that while Germany, Italy, and Spain may be the solar powerhouses of today, in 5 years, a new set of countries led by India will emerge as leading consumers of solar technology. He has predicted that India, S.Africa, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, and the UK are among the countries best suited to create the market demand for gigawatts worth of solar panels as growth in the established countries levels off, inter alia, as a result of scaling back of subsidies. More and more green building space is also becoming available in India, its supply having grown exponentially since 2003 from a registered green built-up area of 20,000 sq ft to the current level of 648 million sq ft, averaging an almost three-fold annual increase over the last eight years. According to S Raghupathy, who heads the Confederation of Indian Industrys Godrej Green Business Centre in Hyderabad, India now boasts of a variety of certified and registered green buildings, including airports, convention centres, hospitals, hotels, banks, factories and government buildings. The Indian green building products and technologies market is expected to touch US$100 b by 2012. Raghupathy observed, With 80% of India yet to be built, the next two decades would present a great opportunity for the country to pursue the path of green buildings. India Medical Tourism To Boom Medical tourism in India will continue to boom despite attempts by US President Barack Obama's administration to curb the flow of American patients to Mexico and India for cost effective healthcare, feels a top Indian medical expert. Speaking to reporters in Panaji (Goa), chief cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon at the Fortis group of hospitals Vivek Javali said the medical tourism sector in India would only mature as time goes by and that India would continue to attract patients from Europe and US, because of cost effective and qualitative healthcare available here. Javali, who has performed more than 15,000 surgeries and is known as the father of invasive cardiac surgery in India, also said that the economics of healthcare globally, tilted the scales of medical tourism in favour of countries like India: The ground reality is that more and more foreigners from Europe and US are now heading towards India for not just cosmetic treatment but even for complex surgeries. [Referring to President Obama's insinuation on the quality of healthcare in India and Mexico on April 20] Despite what Obama says, medical tourism in India is bound to mature...The nature of politics in the US is forcing them into making such statements. Medical tourism in India will only grow in the coming years. An estimated 150,000 people travel to India for low-priced healthcare procedures every year, and with a reported growth rate of 30%, India's medical tourism sector is expected to become a US$2.2 b industry in the next five years. India Joins Global Cruise Line Club India has joined the global cruise line club with the country's first cruise ship, AMET Majesty, registered in Chennai with an Indian flag. The ship will make her maiden visit to the Indian shores on June 8 in Chennai and sail off to high seas the next day. The 35-year old cruise vessel has been procured from a Greek owner by Chennai-based AMET Shipping Pvt. Ltd of the AMET Group for US$22.3 m. AMET Majesty will operate regular service covering India and Sri Lanka. Mr P.Bharathi, CEO and Managing Director, AMET Cruises, a division of AMET, said that the company would offer locations in Asia such as Andaman, Phuket, Mumbai, Goa, Lakshadweep, Kochi, Colombo and Maldives for the tourists. To begin with, the service will include short overnight trips to high seas in Chennai and longer 3-night trips covering international destinations such as Trincomalee in Sri Lanka. The company is also seeking to
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attract the nearly 80,000 Indian tourists who otherwise travel to Singapore to go on a cruise there. Three Indian ports, Mumbai, Kochi and Mormugao, will also add cruise terminals. Just as arms symbolise violence, the Charkha symbolises non-violence in the sense that we can most directly realise non-violence through it. But it cannot symbolise non-violence so long as we do not work in accordance with its spirit. - Mahatma Gandhi 'It Was Love At First Sight With India' It was love at first sight for renowned Australian filmmaker Bill Bennett, who had first come to the country four years ago. I fell in love with India instantly, he shares. Recalling his first visit, Bennett says, India was always very high on my bucket list. For our 25th wedding anniversary, Id promised my wife something really romantic. So we visited Udaipur and it was romantic indeed, he smiles. The filmmaker who was recently in the city as part of the Australian Film Initiative (AAFI) reveals that hes been to India several times since. This time around though, he was on a mission. As part of the initiative, the filmmaker announced his next film that he plans to shoot here in collaboration with Indian actors. Indias got a lot of raw talent and Im very keen to tap that, says the director who is best known for his films Kiss or Kill, and In a Savage Land and Tempted among others. Excited about this handshake between the cultures of the two countries, he says that both the Australian as well as the Indian film industry stands to benefit from it. Bollywood is the new genre in global cinema. Most people across the globe known about the Indian industry, what many dont realise is that theres a more serious side to Indian cinema. I hope to tap into that with our collaboration, he explains. They said It... "The Indian luxury car market is growing at a stellar pace. The economy is growing robustly and the mood is bullish and sentiments positive[T]he per capita disposable income for the urban population will double in the next 10 years. This is a very positive sign as India will be a country of the young and rich consumers who have high levels of growing disposable incomesOverall, the India market has immense growth opportunity for us." - Peter Honegg, MD & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India Even the blind who do not see the rose perceive its fragrance. - Mahatma Gandhi TRADE ENQUIRIES FROM INDIA Company RADHARAM SOHANLAL 3, Mallick Street, Calcutta-700007 Tel: (91 33) 22722419, 22705376 Fax: 22684781 Contact: Mr.M.K. Roy Email: mail@dryflowers-india.com, radharam@vsnl.net Web: www.dryflowers-india.com BACFO PHARMACEUTICALS C-15, Sector-2, Noida-201301 Tel: (91 120) 2524731, 2554233, Fax: 2542109 Contact: Mr.Sanjay Kumar, DGM, International Business Email: sanjay@bacfo.com, Web: www.bafco.com Commercial Interest Finished musical instruments parts such as fingerboards, tailpieces, pegs and chinrests for the manufacture of guitars, violins, etc. Organic herbs, Natural herbal supplements, Nutraceuticals, Dietary supplements and Personal care products
India News, May, 2011 SURA ENGINEERING WORKS E-275, Focal Point, Phase IV-A, Ludhiana-141010 Tel: (91 161) 2672378, Fax: 2672377 Contact: Mr.S.C.Puri, Foreign Trade Manager Email: exportsuraenggworks@gmail.com Web: www.suratools.com HI-TECH ELASTOMERS 2, Chirag Apartments, Behind Govt. Polytechnic, Ambawadi Gubari Tekra, Ahmedabad-380015 Tel: (91 79) 26303078, 26303079, Mob: (91) 9824095272 Contact: Mr.K.A.Sodagar, Vice President Email: vpsales@hitechelastomers.com Web: www.hitechelastomers.com AADHI TECH Plot No.504, 5th Floor, Kubera Towers, Narayanaguda Hyderabad-500029 Tel: (91 40) 23220328, Fax: 23220424 Contact: Mr.Anup Kumar Email: nandi@nanditube.com, Web: www.nanditubes.com BINDRA AGRO INDUSTRIES CORPORATION SCO 62-63, First Floor, Sector-34 A, Chandigarh-160022 Tel: (91 172) 5085976, 5085950, Fax: 2667554 Contact: Mr.Ansuman Patnaik, Group Development Manager Email:anshuman.p@hitechgoc.com Web: www.drbindracurries.com ROHAN DYES & INTERMEDIATES Plot No. 123, Phase I, G.I.D.C. Vatva, Ahmedabad-382445 Tel: (91 79) 40269522, Fax: 40269523 Contact: Mr.Sandeep Upadhyay Email: info@rohandyes.com, Web: www.rohandyes.com GLOBE WELL AUTO COMPONENTS Ghanshyam Nagar (W), Opposite Balaji Complex, Kalavad Road, Rajkot-360005 Tel: (91 281) 2561894, Fax: 2561894 Mob: (91) 9925894061 Contact: Mr.Jayesh Vasoya, Chief Executive Officer Email: globewellauto@yahoo.in, Web: www.globewellauto.in HAMILTON HOUSEWARES Kaiser-I-Hind Building, 3rd Floor, Currimbhoy Road, Ballard Estate, Mumbai-400001 Tel: (91 22) 22624444, Fax: 22679568, Mob: 9930102950 Contact: Mr.Vishal Konde, General Manager (International) Email: info@hamiltonindia.in, Web: www.hamiltonindia.in SUN AGRO INTERNATIONAL A-3/68, Sector 16, Rohini, Delhi-110085 Tel: (91 11) 27524651, Mob: (91) 9216152152 Contact: Mr.Sanjay Singh, Manager Export Email: sunagrofoods@hotmail.com GODREJ & BOYCE MFG Pirojshanagar, Vikhroli, Mumbai-400079 Tel: (91 22) 25188010, 25188020, 25188030, 67962651 Fax: (91 22) 25188074, Mob: (91) 9820048913 Contact: Mr.Hormuzd N Patell Email: hnp@godrej.com, Web: www.godrej.com
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Forged components for Combines, Tractors, Automobiles, Earth Moving Machines, Construction equipment and Railway machinery Rubber fenders, Cell fenders, Marine fenders, Marine buoys, Tug-barge fenders, Offshore rubber products, Excel ribbed fenders, etc. Various kinds of rubber tubes for two-, threeand four wheeled vehicles, including commercial vehicles and tractors Ready-to-eat vegetable curries, Frozen nonvegetarian curries, Pickles, Herbal spices, snacks, Jams, Juices, Soups, Noodles and Energy drinks Reactive, Acid & Direct dyes and other chemicals
Cylinder liners & Sleeves as per ASTM/BS Standard, Valve guides, Trucks, Car and Tractor Engine parts Thermoware, Casseroles, Water Jugs, Water bottles, Tiffin boxes, Vacuum flasks, Stainless steel flasks and other Household items Sugar syrups, Treacle, concentrates & Flavors, Indian sherbet (squashes) Steel furniture products for Offices, Hospitals etc. Locks & latches, Vending machines, Forklift trucks, Refrigerators,
Deputy Porfirio Muoz Ledo, Amb.and Mrs.Jain, and Air Marshal and Mrs. Roy at the NDC Delegation Reception.
Minister Mr.Nirani, Amb.Jain, Mr.Uriegas and Commissioner Dr.R.K.Khatri at the Road Show
Prof.Ashis Nandy and others debating on 'Development, Culture and Visions of a Desirable Future'
Indian contingent at the inaugural function of Feria de las culturas amigas
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Indian contingent at the inaugural function of Feria de las culturas amigas

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